Waymo recalls robotaxi software after school bus safety failures

Waymo this week plans to file a voluntary software recall for its robotaxis. The recall is in response to the company’s robotaxis illegally passing stopped school buses in a number of incidents across different states. 

In September, WXIA-TV in Atlanta aired a video showing a Waymo illegally passing a stopped school bus. A month later, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened an investigation into Waymo around “traffic safety violations relating to stopping when encountering a school bus, particularly when the bus is boarding or offboarding students.” 

In its investigation, the NHTSA said a Waymo autonomous vehicle (AV) failed to remain stopped when approaching a school bus that was stopped with its lights flashing, stop arm deployed, and a crossing control arm deployed. No safety driver was in the vehicle during the incident, and the vehicle was operating using Waymo’s 5th-generation driver. As part of the investigation, the NHTSA issued a list of detailed questions about the incidents to Waymo. 

The NHTSA website also includes a letter from the Austin Independent School District, signed by the district’s senior counsel. In the letter, school district officials say they’ve recorded 19 different instances of a Waymo robotaxi “illegally and dangerously” passing Austin school buses since the 2025-2026 school year. Additionally, one of those incidents involved a Waymo vehicle passing a school bus “only moments after a student crossed in front of the vehicle, and while the student was still in the road.” 

According to the letter, five of these incidents happened after Waymo assured the school district that it had issued software updates that would remedy the issue. In the letter, the Austin Independent School District requested Waymo cease operations during the times school buses would be loading and unloading. 

Waymo chief safety officer Mauricio Peña sent the following statement to The Robot Report: “While we are incredibly proud of our strong safety record showing Waymo experiences twelve times fewer injury crashes involving pedestrians than human drivers, holding the highest safety standards means recognizing when our behavior should be better. As a result, we have made the decision to file a voluntary software recall with NHTSA related to appropriately slowing and stopping in these scenarios. We will continue analyzing our vehicles’ performance and making necessary fixes as part of our commitment to continuous improvement.”

Waymo told NPR it has identified the software issue that contributed to the incidents and believes subsequent updates will fix the issue. No injuries have occurred during these issues, according to Waymo.

Waymo’s safety record so far

According to NHTSA, Waymo’s robotaxis surpassed 100 million miles of driving in July 2025, and the company continues to accumulate 2 million miles a week. The company currently operates autonomous robotaxis in Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and San Francisco. In the U.S., Waymo robotaxis have already driven more than 10 million paid rides. 

Waymo last issued a voluntary recall in May 2025, when it recalled 1,212 robotaxis to address risks of collisions with chains, gates, and other roadway barriers. The company said it resolved the underlying software issue through a November 2024 update that reduced the likelihood of these types of events.

According to Waymo’s own safety data, its vehicles were involved in 91% fewer serious injuries or worse crashes, regardless of who is at fault for the crash. Additionally, its vehicles were in 92% fewer pedestrian crashes than human drivers. 

The company will be under increasing scrutiny as it continues to expand its service. Waymo intends to expand or launch services in Nashville, Las Vegas, San Diego, Detroit, Washington D.C., Miami, Dallas, Seattle, Houston, Orlando, San Antonio, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and Denver in the coming years.

In addition, Waymo is planning to bring its technology overseas. It said it wants to deploy in London in 2026, and it has already deployed test vehicles in Tokyo to learn local traffic patterns.

Waymo dominates the robotaxi space in the U.S., but there are a number of companies trying to catch up. In June 2025, Tesla launched a robotaxi service in Austin. Zoox, an Amazon subsidiary, launched its first public service in San Francisco in November 2025. Additionally, Nuro, a Mountain View, Calif.-based startup, recently closed a Series E round of $203 million at a $6 billion valuation.

The Robot Report named Waymo its Robot of the Year in 2025.